-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Contradictory reports swirled around the case of an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery , with one Iranian lawyer saying Monday that she had been whipped 99 times for another alleged offense but another casting doubt on it .

A woman who was in prison with Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani told lawyer Javid Houtan Kian that his client had been lashed over a newspaper photograph that , Iranian authorities thought , showed her without a headscarf . Iranian law requires all women to cover their hair , regardless of their religion .

The Times of London ran the photo on its front page on August 28 , identifying a woman in it as Ashtiani . It later apologized , saying it was not her . On Monday , the newspaper published an editorial calling the lashing an `` outrage . ''

`` Ms Ashtiani has been imprisoned in Tabriz for five years , '' The Times wrote . `` The prison authorities know exactly what she looks like and therefore must have known that the photograph printed in The Times on August 28 was not of her . ''

The newspaper also accused Iranian authorities of punishing her `` to make her suffer for an international campaign to save her that that exposed so much iniquity . ''

Kian was not able to speak to Ashtiani , and neither the courts nor the prison would confirm the whipping , but he believes the other woman , he said Monday .

`` I know what she is saying is correct . If she is making this up , then how did she know that the reason for the flogging was over a photo released in a foreign newspaper ? '' he asked .

Ashtiani asked the woman , who was released from prison , to tell her son she had been whipped , Kian said from Iran on Monday . He declined to identify the woman who passed the information to Ashtiani 's son , saying it would put her at risk of further harassment by the Iranian authorities .

Ashtiani 's son , Sajjad Ghaderzadeh , corroborated Kian 's report and said , `` I am very extremely worried at this point about my mother 's life . ''

He expressed concern that Ashtiani 's death sentence will be carried out after the end of Ramadan , which falls Friday .

Another lawyer associated with Ashtiani said Monday that he doubted reports about her lashing sentence .

Mohammed Mostafei said in Paris , France , Monday that `` there was no evidence of a sentence of lashings . ''

`` I spoke with an official in the judiciary in Iran . They said no punishment was carried out on her , '' he said later Monday .

The Times says it got the picture from Mostafei . He said Monday that he sent the photo to the newspaper , `` but I did underline that this photo was not necessarily a photo of Sakineh ; it was not confirmed . ''

Mostafei spoke at a press conference alongside French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner , who said France `` will do everything in its power to make this case known and support Sakineh . ''

`` Really this is a national case for us and the president said that France must defend Sakineh , '' Kouchner said .

`` I 'm making this a personal case and I 'm willing to do whatever it takes to save her , '' he said . `` If it means going to Tehran , I will go to Tehran . ''

Kouchner later said that he is making it a personal case `` because I 'm a moral person -LSB- and -RSB- because this is barbaric treatment . ''

Ashtiani was earlier sentenced to death by stoning after she was convicted of adultery .

Iranian judicial authorities say a final verdict in her case has not yet been made , the semi-official ISNA news agency reported recently . In July , Iran 's judiciary said the case was under review .

CNN 's Saskya Vandoorne and Becky Anderson contributed to this report .

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NEW : The Times of London publishes a scathing editorial condemning Iranian authorities

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An Iranian woman sentenced to be killed was whipped for another offense , a lawyer says

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He says he heard it from a woman who was in prison with her

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French foreign minister vows to help Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani